Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

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Originally Posted by enterthemadness

Err..

Peter 'Smart' Schiff: We heading towards new crisis.

Someone needs to spin it or say it: Dear 20 soemthings still living at home...get used to it. Sincerely, Washington D.C.

I've been following Peter Schiff for more than three years now and I think he is overly bullish on gold. His 'street-cred' has skyrocketed because a lot of the stuff he says makes sense to the layman (which is good), but it is also often oversimplified (which is bad). Gold standard proponents make some very good points, but they always (oh so conveniently) forget to mention in their pitches that it simply can't be reinstated without a massive restructuring and overhaul of the global financial system. Otherwise, you are going to end up with many of the same problems that forced industrialised nations to abandon it in the first place.

As for heading towards a new crisis, it has pretty much become like a lottery now. Just take a look at any country with an overleveraged economy and/or a super-bloated banking/financial sector and then go place your bets.

Don't matter if you go to school...people want people who are working. Within past 6 months.

I have zero experience for T.J. Maxx. Interview I felt was okay, but I have zero cashier, zero unloading a truck, zero putting stuff out onto the sales floor. Even though I said I can do that even with no experience...yeah, why would he hire me. I only have two paper routes and I've gone to school off/on since 2010 and my GPA at community is a barely passable 2.333.

Oh well, I got a damn Roku. Now I watch Crackle and Popcorn Flix movies on TV. Ad-supported brah, ads.

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

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Originally Posted by Kelly

Have you thought about IT school? They have financial help, you are learning a skill that is highly employable and they help you find a job in many cases with an associate's degree 2 years

No. I haven't.

I've put in 27 jobs dating back to Dec 2012. Had the T.J. Maxx interview before I turned in another app, app #27 which was for Hobby Lobby. Hobby has it going on pay wise. Part time is now $9.50 min and full time is $14.00 min. Last I check min was here was $7.25, so kudos to them for paying more than min wage. Dunno if Hobby is hiring though...just know TJ Maxx and Bed Bath and Beyond are. I will know later on in week if my interview went well at TJ Maxx. FYI, it did feel better than my other 2 interviews I had this year.

Anyhow, I did the math. 3 interviews out of 26 apps is a 11.5% interview rate. -_-...well...the good news is 2 of those interviews has been this month.

Here is how I make myself cry...I am on pace for turning in 100 applications by December 1st 2013...and projected at only getting 6 interviews. Wait no...no...wrong math. I'm projected at 11 interviews out of 100. In other words, probably normal numbers these days.

Grudge match of the heavyweight economists. Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, two of the most respected academics in the field, now red-faced when a new review of their work exposed basic excel errors in their paper about excessive debt being detrimental to economic growth that has been widely cited by deficit hawks and the pro-austerity camps. You can almost picture Paul Krugman and other liberal economists in the corner giggling with delight like schoolgirls at seeing their counterparts go in full-on damage control mode.

All kidding aside though, this doesn't change the fact that over-leveraged economies, particularly those with large amounts of (foreign) short-term debt and current account deficits, have time and again been subjected to coordinated speculative attacks against their currencies that almost left them bankrupt and in many cases, crippled for years to come.

Economic and monetary fundamentals dictate that the U.S should have suffered the same fate as the Latin American countries in the 1980s and the East-Asian Tiger economies in the 1990s by now, precisely why the likes of Ron Paul and Peter Schiff can't stop blowing their doomsday horns. The U.S dollar, however, still remains the world's dominant reserve currency (and that too, by a significant margin). The sterling and the yen combined barely make up 10% of the total market share in the last two decades. And with signs of the Euro already reeling under pressure from bailouts and internal strife, the dollar's primary reserve currency status will remain unchallenged, allowing the U.S to run massive debts and deficits without having to worry about the consequences in the short term.

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

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Originally Posted by SV Fan

Reason #172 we can reduce the defense budget without blinking

I say take all the wasted money on building tanks or whatever other military equipment we don't need and spend it on construction of roads and bridges(declare it a national security issue)

YES, exactly. A huge amount of money is wasted on the military every year on things they don't NEED. (or in this case want)

__________________Beliefs - Christian. Anti-Republican. Anti-Gun. Complete separation of church and state. Freedom of speech. Freedom to practice any religion in public. Less focus on foreign lands and more focus on our own problems.

There's a very important lesson here for both parties. A fiscally irresponsible welfare state is a dangerously potent mix, and the current state of Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain should attest to that. Living within your means may be an age-old axiom, but is now more relevant than ever, especially with the monetary expansionist policies of many central banks as of late. At the same time, this mad-obsession with deficit reduction has clouded many people's vision from understanding the necessity of government involvement in providing a number of key essential public services. Yes, if you start giving people too much for free, they'll eventually develop a habit of increased entitlement, but that is a poor rationale for a small government (more efficient government maybe).

I think it is high time Americans accept the fact that the complexities of a modern nation-state and the asymmetries plaguing the economic system has rendered the idea of small government pretty much obsolete. Free market capitalism, deregulation, liberalisation of markets, abolition of capital controls...they are all like children - under careful supervision they can be nurtured into invaluable assets, but leave them to their excesses unchecked and they will become a dangerous liability unto themselves as well as others.

If there's a home of the Abrams, it's politically important Ohio. The nation's only tank plant is in Lima. So it's no coincidence that the champions for more tanks are Rep. Jim Jordan and Sen. Rob Portman, two of Capitol's Hill most prominent deficit hawks, as well as Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. They said their support is rooted in protecting national security, not in pork-barrel politics.

Movie theaters, big and small, planning to cut part timers to under 30 hours to avoid Obamacare.

I just got cut at my work at a grocery store, so I'm not surprised. I'm telling you guys, maybe not soon, but if this stuff doesn't get worked out, there will not be a middle class anymore. Just the rich and the poor.

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

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Originally Posted by TheDreamMaster

I just got cut at my work at a grocery store, so I'm not surprised. I'm telling you guys, maybe not soon, but if this stuff doesn't get worked out, there will not be a middle class anymore. Just the rich and the poor.

Yup. We've been on that road for a while. All those people piling up credit card debt (like 10k worth or more) are in for a rude awakening when it all tumbles.

__________________Beliefs - Christian. Anti-Republican. Anti-Gun. Complete separation of church and state. Freedom of speech. Freedom to practice any religion in public. Less focus on foreign lands and more focus on our own problems.

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDreamMaster

I just got cut at my work at a grocery store, so I'm not surprised. I'm telling you guys, maybe not soon, but if this stuff doesn't get worked out, there will not be a middle class anymore. Just the rich and the poor.

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

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Originally Posted by Kelly

And you don't think that is what some want.....?????

*puts on tin hat*

Of course *some* in power want that...

But no...um. I got hired at TJ Maxx. 4 days a week at 16 hours. Never got told how much I make a hour, but figure it's $7.25. That put me at 435 or 450 before tax, probably 360 after taxes? I dunno. Haven't payroll and crap gone up? I dunno if I should go back to school or try my best to get a second job that would be more fun. Gamestop would be nice...I mean, I imagine I be working a second job sooner or later. I quit one of my paper routes already...keeping the other one for time being cause I dunno if I want to go back to school now...

Re: Discussion: The Economy, Fiscal Cliff, National Debt, And Other Financial Issues

Quote:

Originally Posted by enterthemadness

Of course *some* in power want that...

But no...um. I got hired at TJ Maxx. 4 days a week at 16 hours. Never got told how much I make a hour, but figure it's $7.25. That put me at 435 or 450 before tax, probably 360 after taxes? I dunno. Haven't payroll and crap gone up? I dunno if I should go back to school or try my best to get a second job that would be more fun. Gamestop would be nice...I mean, I imagine I be working a second job sooner or later. I quit one of my paper routes already...keeping the other one for time being cause I dunno if I want to go back to school now...

Well, you better start getting some kind of skills, or begin working up within one of those jobs because if you don't you are going to be on "the search" your entire life, and you need to get to a point where you can start saving, a 401k or something...